Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa ("of a hundred paths") 1.3.1.9

1.3.1.9

sa vai sruvamevāgre sammārṣṭi | athetarāḥ sruco yoṣā vai srugvṛṣā sruvastasmādyadyapi bahvya iva striyaḥ sārdhaṃ yanti ya eva tāsvapi kumāraka iva pumānbhavati sa eva tatra prathama etyanūcya itarāstasmātsruvamevāgre sammārṣṭyathetarāḥ srucaḥ

The dipping-spoon (sruva, masc.) he brushes first, and then the other spoons (sruk, fem.). The offering-spoon (sruk), namely, is female, and the dipping-spoon is male, so that, although in this way several women meet together, the one that is, as it were, the only male youth among them, goes there first, and the others after him. This is the reason why he brushes the dipping-spoon first, and afterwards the other (offering-)spoons.